NHL officials will start wearing Apple Watches on ice

The Apple Watch is now the smartwatch of choice for National Hockey League officials. Apple and the NHL just announced a collaboration where on-ice officials will wear Apple Watches that are running special software to receive important in-game information.

Using the custom-built NHL Watch Comms app, on-ice referees can view the game clock directly from their wrist. They’ll also be able to receive haptic alerts for when NHL players leave the penalty box or when time is running out in the period. The haptic patterns for each timer are different, so as not to confuse the officials. The Apple Watches will also be synced to the NHL’s Oasis feed, a cloud system that enables player tracking, game telemetry, and other data, which will ensure that all officials receive the same information.

“We wanted to make sure that the officials had really good awareness and were able to keep their eyes on play,” says Andres de Corral, vice president of digital services at Presidio, a tech firm that helped develop the app. “So by enabling haptic responses, we were able to provide non-visual cues to the officials.”

Situational awareness is a major challenge for officials on the ice. On top of making calls, they also have to keep track of the puck, get out of the players’ way, and keep track of zones on the ice and players leaving and entering the penalty box.

“As they’re doing all those things, it sounds crazy to say, but they’re also trying to find the game clock on the video board,” explains Dave Lehanski, the NHL’s executive vice president of business development and innovation. Given how fast hockey games move, Lehanski notes it’s less than ideal for officials to constantly crane their necks up to view the game clock.

Officials can choose between the rugged Ultra or the slimmer Series models. Some officials, for example, have to wear thicker wrist guards so the thinner profile on Series makes more sense. Regardless, these Apple Watches won’t be personal watches. Corral says they will be specific to in-game use so that all officials have a uniform experience.

This is not the first time Apple and the NHL have collaborated on in-game tech. Since 2017, the league has used iPads and Macs to deliver game video to coaches and players on the bench so they can make in-game adjustments. It’s also not Apple’s first time working with a sports league in this capacity. In 2023, the World Surf League adopted the Apple Watch as its “official wearable” to deliver real-time information to surfers during competitions.